Old Testament Theology

by Paul R. House

The discipline of Old Testament theology continues to be in flux as diverse approaches vie for dominance. Paul House serves as our guide—without being partisan or uninformed—exploring each Old Testament book, summarizing its content and showing its theological significance within the whole of the Old Testament canon. Readers with little prior background will find House’s thematic surveys particularly helpful for coming to grips with basic biblical content as well as for probing the theological nuances of individual parts of the canon. The book concludes by forging a set of summary statements concerning God and his character, the people of God, and links between the Old and New Testaments that suggest avenues for the exploration of a full biblical theology.

Old Testament Theology offers an overview of the discipline and a fair treatment of differing views while remaining unabashedly evangelical. Readers will welcome the obvious passion of its author for the subject matter. Student friendly and useful to a wide audience, this impressive work has proved a profitable read for many.

Genres: Theology, Old Testament, Biblical Studies, Reference, Christian

655 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1998

About the author

Paul R. House teaches at Beeson Divinity School of Samford University (Birmingham, Alabama). An Old Testament scholar, he has taught previously at Taylor University, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Wheaton College.

Reviews

[Patrick Lacson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most accessible books I've read in helping me understand the theology of each OT book as they unfold the story of redemption. Compared to Garrett Crossley's, The Old Testament Explained and Applied, this book does a far better job of handling the text and authorial intent.

Garrett's book was too focused on reading the entire Old Testament with a New Testament lens. Istead, House offers great care in handling the context of each passage, historical setting, and overall message of each book leading you to conclusions the author of the book would want you to have.

On controversial issues, House does not comment, but instead keeps this book at the survey / summary level for the student of Old Testament scripture.

[Salvador Blanco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Correctly ordered. Well-written. Deep. Accessible. I’m glad I know the man himself. Grateful to have read this book and taken this class alongside Cole Shiflet.

[Cole Shiflet · Rating 5 out of 5]

So very thankful for Dr. Paul House and this book. I've benefitted greatly from his class.

[Jimmy Reagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume on Old Testament theology by Paul R. House has been so popular for 20 years that it has warranted this paperback edition. The Preface leaves no doubt about what you’re going to find in this book. First, you’ll find that its audience is for college students, though it has enough depth to be appreciated by scholars and teachers. Second, you will find an emphasis on historical context with a canonical approach. Most importantly, you will find that the author unapologetically holds to an evangelical outlook. Old Testament volumes available today particularly run toward a critical outlook. In a word, this book is refreshing.

The first chapter gives the history and methodology of the study of Old Testament theology. You will see that that history has run willy-nilly through many ditches over the last couple centuries. He ends that overview by mentioning some of the important conservative works that have finally come out. You might check out a conservative counterpart to this volume in Eugene Merrill’s Everlasting Dominion though neither of these important volumes renders the other obsolete.

I love how House approached the subject of Old Testament theology. For the most part, he takes the books of the Old Testament individually to see their contribution to the overall picture of Old Testament theology. For that reason, this book would be quite handy for its theological background if you’re doing a study on a particular book of the Old Testament.

This book is a winner. To my mind, it’s not out of date and is worthy of this new paperback edition. I know I’m glad to have it at hand.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

[Zack Clemmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars on the book, which, as something of an introductory volume, is thorough, consistent, and plodding (plodding can be a good thing, of course). House was my first cognizant introduction to a canonical approach to Scripture, an introduction for which I'm very grateful. 6 stars on the seminary course for the which the book was the companion text.

[James Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear, concise comments section by section through the Old Testament. There are also helpful overviews of each book to help you not lose the forest for the trees. Highly Recommended resource.

[Oladejo Oyewumi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Splendid and Excellent.

[Stephen Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

The companion text for the course of the same name — probably my favorite class I have ever taken. God bless Paul House.

[Ryan Linkous · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclosure: I think of this book in the context of Paul House's Old Testament Theology class, which I had consecutively while reading this book. I think his class gets 6 out of 5 stars and his book probably gets 4/5 so he gets 5/5.

House presents a very compelling way to do Old Testament Theology which has a significant on the way Christians view the Old and New Testament. Utilizing the canonical method, House shows the unity of OT, stressing monotheism, covenant, and eventually, Messiah.

House's lengthy chapter at the beginning of the book on the History of Old Testament Theology is quite boring but also quite important to understand the context in which his OTT was written and also to understand how his OTT contributes to the overall discipline of OTT.

The books is accessible and a helpful resource. Having already read the whole book (most of it), I can now refer back to specific books to see how they fit into and contribute to the OT canon. This book is a little old (published in 1998 and only covers scholarship through 1993), but it is still incredibly helpful.

I would encourage anyone to go to wherever Paul House is whether he's teaching at Beeson Divinity School, Briarwood Presbyterian Church, any conferences he speaks at in order to learn his method of Old Testament Theology.

[Gregory · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a long read. House is concerned to cover every book of the OT, and intereact, briefly, with most major scholars. There are some good points, but I'm sure I don't appreciate as much as I should, since I've a novice in OT studies. His overview of the development of OT theology was helpful, and he is an evangelical.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really impressive work in that he consolidated so much work/research into one concise volume. But not outstanding content.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good. Book-by-book approach to OT theology.

[Matthew Bonzon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really helpful and well written work. I often use this as a resource in my OT reading. The “Canonical Synthesis” is especially helpful.